Rendering Images and the lessons i learned from them

Blog entry for Armament by SSgt Jono Lansdale Game Artist 3D

All Images i have are still under development and will not be final until they are turned in.

Images I want completed

5 images using vehicals, and a scene comprised of soldiers, props, and buildings.

I created Five rendered images of the vehicle units we have. The scene didn't change but the asset did. I learned good info on using the compositor in blender such as being able to render multiple images but also how to add after effects to control the outcome of the render. You can see in the perspective lens shadow effect i did.

2 or 3 images of helicopters. Using pilots, props, and buildings

Moving on to the flight units I have two different scenes i will be working with.

The helipad scene will showcase our Helicopters. However i wanted every unit to be displayed in a variety of ways to show continuity to our game so I chose to frame this unit in with the scene. We are going to have vast landscapes covering many eco systems. I wanted to take this opportunity and take advantage of showing that not just in a landscape piece but subtly throughout every piece we have. This would also show continuity that these arent just models but objects in a world. Not just object but people too in this living world our helicopters need maintenance and we have the crew to maintain them.

2 or 3 (five air units) planes/ drones on an airstrip. Use the airstrip model we currently have create a texture for it then populate it with pilots, props, and buildings

I wanted to showcase the planes/drones on the airstrip. This is going to require and entirely new scene and possibly composition. Im going to use all the things ive learned so far but also im going to be using our structure for the airstrip. This means using an asset we own but have no texture for. The texture for the airstrip will almost certainly be incredibly simple so im going to use this time to strengthen my understanding of uv mapping, and baking. Or explore other options of texturing.

4-5 images(or whatever we have) of aquatic vehicles boats/sub These assets do not have textures and will need more complex textures than the structures so this is the main focus. Use the shipyard structure asset that needs a texture as well. Populate with dock worker, props, and vehicles

The Boat scene is going to take place with our dry dock asset as well. Using what i learned before it well be very easy to compose everything together to create a scene. However we did not purchase any aquatic units with textures so i will take this time to actually make a texture much like the ones we purchased. How i will do this im not sure yet.

4-5 images of unique landscape. These cant just be simple renders but actual composed images that have had work into making them look nice and alive.

At this point I want to break away from the units for a bit to focus on landscape and scenery. Each render will showcase a different environment and the vast landscape. I will be taking this time to really focus on using the compositor to render out layers and use 3rd party programs to enhance the landscape and really make a gorgeous low poly image. I will be learning how to use blender and another program to create special effects that blender alone can not or has difficulty doing.

4-5 images of infantry. Articulate their design through "motion" and effects. These scenes should feel busy and alive more than any of the others

I want the infantry units to showcase not their individual models likeness but more the weapon and the job of the unit. So with these renders im going to place them in a training area where they will be preforming obvious task to show off there likeness. This is going to involve experimenting with effects to achieve the sense of motion and scale im trying to achieve. Im most likely going to have to use other software besides blender to achieve this effect. But using what ive learned this should not be much of an issue at this time.

A single action shot (or many i dont know yet what the workload will look like then) showcasing gameplay. Image should look like a screenshot of the game as if we had it running with all the effects running. Units should be highlighted possibly a UI. Lots of action and mayham this should be a very busy shot.

Finally we need an action shot. Not just explosions and mayhem...well that too... but gameplay concept. I want to create an image that looks like we have a fully functional game and we took a screenshot. This is going to require every single thing that i learned making every render before this thats why I want to do all these images and in the order i chose. We absolutely need this action shot but it is going to require me to have all these fundamentals down and understood before i can create what we need with he quality that we could really use right now. Not only will we have an awesome action scene but we also will have high quality renders of every render i do leading to this one.

If you think for any reason i should do things differently let me know